[BC] The Mom and Pop Store

[KKTY]

"Scott Cason" wrote...

>...the process of getting a new FM on the air.  Paying for the
> frequency studies.  Then if there is a frequency available, paying for
> filing the paperwork (only after a filing window opens), waiting for years
> for the allocation to be approved, then the frequency going into an
auction
> where companies with deeper pockets than myself can bid on the frequency I
> spent the money to get allocated in the first place.  I said there may not
> be any frequency available  in the Louisville area anyway because of the
FCC
> cramming the band full in the first place.
>
> So she asked the obvious, why would anyone bother trying to get a station
on
> the air in the first place?  Indeed, why?
>

Bottom line, nobody in their right mind would do it this way. In many parts
of the country, it's still going to be cheaper, and certainly less of a
headache, to go buy an already-built and on-air station, or even buy an
overpriced, unbuilt CP, than it is to go through the allocation/auction
process.

In both of the FM auctions, there were a BUNCH of allocations in Wyoming. I
played for a bit in the first auction. But when the price of unbuilt CP's in
VERY rural markets went up over what I payed for my AM/FM combo less than 10
years ago, I snorted & walked away. And the bottom line is still the bottom
line... once you've overpayed for your CP, found a stick, bought the dish
and the automation, you've still got to go sell enough advertising to pay
for the thing. Or find a bigger sucker...

The auction system is not meant to serve owner-operators, the Mom-n-Pop's
that we've been discussing. It's not meant to serve broadcasters. It's meant
to serve the deepest, and in many cases the stupidest, pockets. It's meant
to serve the move-in artists, and the CP brokers... who aren't interested in
building and "serving the community", but rather will buy, hold & sell,
hoping for a profit. Nothing wrong with that... it's a free country, but for
those of us who actually take pride in running a radio station and serving
our listeners (there's that quaint concept again), the whole auction process
smells really, really bad.

Not bitter, just wiser...


Dennis Switzer
KKTY AM/FM
Douglas, WY